Failing Health Care Co-ops Will Cost Taxpayers

Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Programs (COOPs) were really a political compromise between Members of Congress who wanted a public plan option and those who didn’t. Once the Affordable Care Act passed, COOPs had outlived their usefulness. However, they are now failing and will cost taxpayers plenty. Senior Fellow Devon Herrick testified before a congressional committee.

Table of Contents

About the Authors

Laurence J. Kotlikoff , a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis, is a professor of economics at Boston University, research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, fellow of the Econometric Society, a member of the Executive Committee of the American Economic Association and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc., a company specializing in financial planning software. Prof. Kotlikoff received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in economics from Harvard University in 1977. From 1977 through 1983 he served on the faculties of economics of the University of California-Los Angeles and Yale University. In 1981-1982 Prof. Kotlikoff was a senior economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Prof. Kotlikoff is coauthor (with Scott Burns) of The Coming Generational Storm; coauthor (with Alan Auerbach) of Macroeconomics: An Integrated Approach and Dynamic Fiscal Policy ; author of Generational Accounting and What Determines Savings? ; coauthor (with Daniel Smith) of Pensions in the American Economy ; and coauthor (with David Wise) of The Wage Carrot and the Pension Stick . In addition, he has published extensively in professional journals, newspapers and magazines.

David S. Rapson is a doctoral candidate in economics at Boston University where he holds a Dean's Fellowship. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Dartmouth College in 1999 and a Master of Arts degree in economics from Queen's University in 2003. Rapson's research interests include public finance, environmental economics and applied industrial organization. Before returning to school for graduate studies he worked in Boston for three years as a strategy consultant.